UPDATE: Reinvigorating Robinson (1/15/07; ALA, 5/24/07-5/27/07)

Edwin Arlington Robinson's (1869-1935) most popular poems consistentlyappear in numerous American poetry anthologies and high schooltextbooks, his Collected Poems are carried by "big box" bookstores, andone of his poems was even the subject of the Simon and Garfunkel song"Richard Cory." Scott Donaldson's forthcoming biography demonstratesthat Robinson remains a figure of literary interest. However, thescarcity of recent critical work is remarkable; Donaldson's biographyis the first in more than sixty years. So why does Robinson's poetryencourage so little critical attention if he was and is still a public,published poet? This proposed ALA panel is soliciting 400-600 wordabstracts for papers no more than 20 minutes in length reinvigoratingstudy on Robinson as a poet of scholarly interest. The panel offers anopportunity to revise poetic reading practices, literary history, andgenre study in relation to Robinson's unique verse.